The biggest city in the Baltics is green and grand. A handsome city with impressive parks and big Berlin- and Budapest-style blocks. There are good cafés everywhere, and Riga is also marketing itself as the free Wi-Fi capital of the world. The only wonder is why it is has not yet boomed as a low-cost film and TV location.

MEET MAURIZIO MASSARI — ITALY’S LATEST PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE EU: The Italian government announced the third Italian ambassador to the EU in eight weeks yesterday. Massari is described by my source as a “different brand” than predecessors Stefano Sannino and Carlo Calenda. Massari is “brilliant, loves writing, including a very good book on Russia.” He comes with a pedigree, including postings to Moscow, London, Washington, OSCE representative in Belgrade, and spokesman for former Italian Foreign Minister Frattini. His limited EU experience is also noted. Massari will be joined in Brussels by his wife, Mary, an Italian-American who previously worked at the Italian Embassy in Washington D.C.

COUNCIL — 11 GOVERNMENTS READY TO TOSS OUT ‘POSTED WORKERS’ DIRECTIVE CHANGES: For only the third time, the national parliaments of 11 countries, including Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, have enough votes to trigger the “yellow card” procedure against the Commission’s revised new text on so-called “posted workers.” That’s people sent by their employers to work temporarily in another country.

The divisions are mostly East vs. West. Germany and France want to avoid their citizens’ wages being undercut by workers dumped into their national labour markets, while the others want full EU freedom of movement to apply. Maïa de La Baume: http://politi.co/21TYeiF

PARLIAMENT — PODCASTING POLITICS: Given the mismatch between TV’s need for soundbites and the complicated nature of EU lawmaking, Playbook wonders why more MEPs and commissioners don’t get into podcasts to explain developments. Claude Moraes makes the leap today in this podcast with Paul Adamson, tackling the trickle of draft laws now reaching the Parliament, and some damning words on the EU’s migration crisis handling. http://bit.ly/1TPKpyr

**A message from EPP Group: The European Parliament will vote today at noon on the very important new EU law which will strengthen Europol and provide it with robust powers to combat terrorism and organised crime, also online.See what we mean when we call for an #antiterrorpact**

TRADE — CHINA APPLIES PRESSURE AHEAD OF PARLIAMENT VOTE: MEPs are this week debating whether to tell the European Commission to hold back its efforts to grant China market economy status in EU trading rules. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce told the Financial Times that “China is firmly against any misinterpretation or delay.” Mei Xinyu, a researcher at a think tank affiliated with the Ministry of Commerce said: “If the EU doesn’t want to honor the WTO protocol it has signed, it should consider withdrawing its membership.” http://bit.ly/1QXpip5

MIGRATION — TURKISH SOLDIERS ACCUSED OF FIRING ON AND KILLING SYRIAN REFUGEES: In a report issued Tuesday, the NGO Human Rights Watch said Turkish border guards have killed five and wounded 14 during March and April. http://nyti.ms/1T9ybR3

LATVIANS ARE TALKING ABOUT — OECD MEMBERSHIP: 21 of the OECD’s committees have given a green light for Latvia to become the economic organization’s 35th member. OECD officials have been in Riga over the past week undertaking final assessments. It’s expected membership will be announced today in Paris. Latvia’s Finance Minister Dana Reizniece-Ozola has said membership is “a matter of prestige … an answer to the investors that we are a trustworthy country, not some kind of a banana republic.” Background here: http://bit.ly/24L2yps

LATVIANS ARE TALKING ABOUT — THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION: It’s wonky and weird. Latvia’s conservative Justice Minister Dzintars Rasnačs has refused to sign the Istanbul Convention against Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence. Rasnačs’ cited a legal opinion he procured from a conservative private lawyer, claiming the convention was a back door to destroying traditional heterosexual families. The problem: His department’s own lawyers disagreed, as did lawyers from dozens of European governments, and also large parts of Latvian civil society who called for his resignation. The government overrode Rasnačs and yesterday gave the go-ahead to Welfare Minister Jānis Reirs to sign the convention instead. LSM: http://bit.ly/1rRxTFf

FUN FACTS:

– Around half of Latvia’s families have children out of wedlock and half have a woman as the main breadwinner, according to Lolita Čigāne, an MP Playbook interviewed in Riga. As NGOs pointed out, in Latvia the traditional family horse has bolted.

– For Dzintars Rasnačs, the idea of protecting people against domestic violence is personal, which makes his position against the Istanbul Convention all the stranger. He once filed a police complaint against his wife for beating him with wet rhubarb stalks. http://bit.ly/24IVdDz

INTERVIEW WITH LOLITA CIGANE, THE MP WHO HOLDS THE EU TO ACCOUNT IN LATVIA … There’s no messing with Lolita Čigāne, the 42 year-old MP who chairs the Latvian Parliament’s EU affairs committee that keeps Latvia’s ministers on a tight leash when they’re in Brussels. Čigāne says many national parliaments — including the U.K.’s — don’t get the most out of the EU because they don’t engage with it at Parliament level. Here are her tips for keeping Brussels accountable:

What to do: Make your EU affairs committee meet two to three times a week. “It takes up time, but they [the MPs] stop feeling un-influential and like a mere recipient of Brussels decisions.” And spend time in Brussels: “For every politician, it is worthwhile experiencing the EU in all its details. It’s too easy to delegate it away because it seems complicated.”

Who does it badly: “The level of knowledge of U.K. MPs [of the EU] leaves a lot to be desired. It stems from their mandate being so limited.”

Who does it best: “I have lot of positive envy of Bundestag [German] resources. We can’t match that. But we learnt a lot through our [Council] presidency and we apply the skills now.”

Priorities for 2016 include: The third energy package and opposing Nord Stream 2, and the Eastern Partnership.

Priorities for today: Locking in Latvia’s positions for this week’s foreign affairs council.

LATVIA BOOSTS LINKS WITH GULF STATES: UAE set to open its first Baltic embassy in Riga, and direct flights are under discussion. http://bit.ly/24LDT4g

WE HEAR: The way Latvia manages its refugee relocation contribution, slowly trickling in now from Greece and Italy, is to ensure the refugees fly in as late as possible on a Friday night to avoid attention.

** Join POLITICO on June 16 for the “Sustainable Health Care for All by 2030: Shared Effort for a Common Goal” event, organized in partnership with Philips. The event is taking place as part of the European Development Days 2016 (EDD 2016: https://eudevdays.eu/about-edd16) in Brussels. To find out more, visit: http://politi.co/1SI4y6U. Closing date for registration is this Sunday, May 15 **

UK — KHAN SLAPS DOWN TRUMP: The Republican presidential contender offered to make Khan an exception to his proposed ban on Muslims. Khan said thanks, but no thanks. “This isn’t just about me,” Khan told Buzzfeed. “It’s about my friends, my family, and everyone who comes from a background similar to mine, anywhere in the world.” http://politi.co/1WZ0WCw

FRANCE — SHOULD WE BE TALKING ABOUT A FREXIT? Bruno Le Maire, the third man in the race for the French right’s presidential nomination, wants to reconcile Paris with the EU via a radical proposal – getting France to hold a new referendum to redefine its relationship with the European Union. In an interview with Nicholas Vinocur, Le Maire argued his proposal was a positive referendum —an “anti-Brexit.” Here’s the full read: http://politi.co/1TDT0kC

FRANCE — LABOR REFORMS PUSHED THROUGH: The French government will push through parliament a labor reform bill designed to bring flexibility to France’s labor market. Facing resistance from the government’s own Socialist MPs, President François Hollande authorized Prime Minister Manuel Valls to force through the reform without a vote. http://on.ft.com/1ZDlPlM

CAUCASUS — HOW TO CONTAIN THE CRISIS: It is no exaggeration to say that Armenia and Azerbaijan are two or three steps away from a Bosnia-style conflict, writes Thomas de Waal, that could be deleterious for the wider region. And Russia can’t manage the crisis. http://politi.co/1Ogo4e9

POLAND — POLITICAL CLEANSING OF JOURNALISTS CLAIMED: Martha Otwinowski from the Index on Censorship writes: “The country’s ranking in the Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index plunged from 18 in 2015 to 47 in 2016 … As part of the changes, a total of 141 journalists have been dismissed, forced to resign or transferred to lesser positions between the election and May 2016, according to journalist union Towarzystwo Dziennikarskie.” http://bit.ly/1TPKJwS

SPAIN — EXHUMATIONS OF FRANCO-ERA DEAD APPROVED: A Spanish court has for the first time authorized the exhumation of bodies from the Valley of the Fallen. It’s a vast mausoleum where dictator Francisco Franco is buried, along with thousands of victims of Spain’s civil war. http://bit.ly/1XixibZ

GERMANY — MORE TROOPS: Germany will increase its troop numbers for the first time since the cold war. The spike is in response to terrorism, global instability, and Russia. http://on.ft.com/1qcMXMr

ASIA — DECODING THE FILIPINO TRUMP: “A political hand-grenade has just been tossed into Asian politics,” writes Lindsay Murdoch. “Rodrigo Duterte’s upset victory in the Philippines presidential elections will have serious consequences for how the region responds to China’s aggressive claim to vast tracts of the South China Sea, one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints.” http://bit.ly/1TPtlsf

US — OBAMA IN JAPAN: Barack Obama will make a historic trip to Hiroshima later this month, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit one of the two sites in Japan where atomic bombs were dropped during the second world war: http://nyti.ms/1T89301

US 2016 — RESULTS: Trump won the West Virginia and Nebraska Republican primaries. Bernie Sanders claimed the Democratic victory in West Virginia, while Clinton won Nebraska.

US 2016 — HOW CLINTON PLANS TO WIN THROUGH BOREDOM: “Americans like Hillary Clinton, the nerdy technocrat. They do not like Hillary Clinton, the candidate. So, Clinton’s advisers told her, stop acting like a candidate. Don’t wait for the seesaw to hit her. Just be a wonk.” Charlotte Alter for Time: http://ti.me/1WZ5skw

MEDIA — CANNES FESTIVAL KICKS OFF THIS WEEKEND: Unprecedented additional security measures will be a feature. European Commissioners including Günther Oettinger, the digital commissioner, will be there: http://bit.ly/1T7Y7Q5

BREXIT — CURRENCY QUESTION: The majority of Britain’s large companies have hedged against the risk that a vote to leave the EU will knock more than 10 percent off the value of sterling. http://reut.rs/1ZDmoMD

EUROVISION — RESULTS OF SEMI-FINAL 1: Russia, the favorite, was a clear winner. The others through to Saturday’s final are: Azerbaijan, the Netherlands, Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Armenia, the Czech Republic, Cyprus and Malta. http://bit.ly/1XjZ8Vb

BRUSSELS METRO — EX-CEO CONTINUES TO SPEAK OUT: Alain Flausch, who spoke critically with POLITICO a month ago about STIB safety issues, told RTBF that there is no protocol for an emergency between the STIB and the Belgian interior ministry. http://bit.ly/1NpqOGa

KERRY NUDGES EUROPE TOWARDS TEHRAN: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said European businesses should not avoid doing business with Tehran just because of U.S. sanctions. The comments come ahead of meetings with European banking leaders Thursday, and the Wall Street Journal reckons they were part of the Obama administration’s moves to help integrate Iran into the global economic system. Six world powers agreed to lift international sanctions against Iran last year in return for curbs on the country’s nuclear program. But Iranian officials say they’re not seeing results. http://on.wsj.com/1TD001e

MEET MR MELDONIUM: I sat down yesterday with Ivars Kalviņš, the inventor of the drug meldonium (sold as Mildronate) in his modest suburban office on the edge of Riga. In 2016, over a hundred Olympic-level athletes, including tennis player Maria Sharapova, have been banned from competition for using the drug, which the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) reclassified as “performance enhancing” this year. It’s also one of Latvia’s biggest exports. The drug is easily available in Latvia without a prescription: I bought two different brands at the first two pharmacies I visited.

Kalviņš developed the drug in 1970, at the age of 23. Meldonium is supposed to help the heart and brain cope with stressful environments — heart conditions, working in low-oxygen environments (high altitude, for example) or sports exertion. Kalviņš denies it improves performance. “It’s for recovery and that is medicine, not doping.”

In case you missed it, WADA in April said it could not establish how quickly meldonium cleared out of the system after use, and conceded bans for athletes caught using the substance earlier this year may have to be overturned. http://ab.co/1SbDvmu

AWARDED:Christiana Figueres, outgoing U.N. climate chief, will become Officer of the Order of Orange Nassau (the Dutch knighthood), for salvaging global climate negotiations from the low point of the 2009 Copenhagen summit. http://bit.ly/1T7CYFS

CHANGED ROLES: Francis Morgan, a member of the former Barrot cabinet, now director for security at European Council http://bit.ly/1UQ0Blt. Alex Chisholm, head of the U.K. competition authority, will become permanent secretary at the U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change. Paul Haydon is seconded to the U.K.’s Stronger In campaign until June 23. Lewis North will handle media enquiries for Catherine Bearder MEP in the meantime.

POSITION VACANT: The U.S. embassy in Brussels is looking for a Russian-language media analyst: http://bit.ly/1sb8Cqh.

**A message from EPP Group: The EPP Group wants to increase the visibility on where companies pay taxes. “We want companies to pay taxes where the value is created. The so-called country-by-country reporting will help us identify if this principle is being enforced or not. This is why we want it”, says Dariusz Rosati MEP, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the 4th Directive on Administrative Cooperation, which will be debated today and adopted by the Parliament tomorrow. #taxfairness**